Pages

Monday, September 12, 2011

I've Got a Confession to Make...

...I'm a nail biter! I've been one for a very, very long time...as long as I can remember, really. There have been times that I've gone as long as a few months without biting my nails off, but really this has been a problem for me from childhood forward. I can't identify if I do it as a nervous thing, stress reliever, or some other reason. I just do it. I've tried many, many times to stop biting, and yet I always seem to come back to it, subconsciously it seems. I'm often not even aware I'm doing it, until I start feeling the pain and look down to see I've chewed down too far. That's how it went down this weekend. I wasn't even attuned to what I was doing...I just chewed my nails off. Not completely...just down really far. Far enough that it hurts.

But now, I'm thinking about this habit. Because you see, I used to have a bunch of other bad habits, too. For example, I used to drown my emotions in food. Today would have been a good day to do that! Stressful to the max! And yet...I didn't. I went to the gym instead and worked myself until my knees told me to stop. A decidedly better stress management technique than downing a quart of ice cream would have been! I've changed the bad habit...when I never imagined I could. So why tolerate the nail biting?

The answer to that is pretty evident. I shouldn't. I should look at each of the bad habits in my life one by one and refuse to allow them to dominate me. I know that it takes a lot of focus and effort to break bad habits, and I don't know if I've got that kind of mental stamina right now. I've got much bigger things on my plate right now that nail biting! But I do believe that if I focused on this...or any other bad habit I have...I CAN change it.

The only question in my mind is when will I?

What about you? Got any bad habits you might need to look at? Your answer is the same as mine. Once you make up your mind to change it, you CAN do it. You just have to decide that it's time. Easier said than done, I know. Me and my painful little fingers truly do understand!

Praying for you all to defeat and reshape your worst habits...and hope you're praying for me to have success, too!!